NAHEC and CNYAHEC are nonprofits within the AHEC system whose missions are to improve healthcare workforce development in New York. The Rural Immersion Program is a highly successful program that allows medical students to meet various healthcare professionals over a week long period in a rural healthcare facility.
NAHEC and CNYAHEC wanted to increase the number of participants in the program, so they began working with HWNY to assist them with their recruitment needs. HWNY helped create a seamless, mobile accessible registration platform for the program. In addition to this, a video was produced to promote the program, along with rural health as a whole. The video can be viewed here.
Between 2013 and August of 2019, 116 students participated in the Rural Immersion program. Some of the rural health facilities involved in the program include:
- River Hospital Nursing Home
- Little Falls Hospital
- Canton-Potsdam Hospital
- Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center
- Oswego Hospital
The NAHEC website says this about the Program’s success:
So far, the program has been highly accredited and extremely successful in influencing undergraduate students to continue studying medicine with the intent to bring their services to rural areas.
With HWNY’s assistance, applying and registering for programs like Rural Immersion has been made easier and more accessible. It is also conveniently managed on the back-end for CNYAHEC and NAHEC staff.